Reported by Adam Martin of WrestleView.com
On Wednesday, June 18, 2008 at 11:13 AM EST

ECW on Sci-Fi
San Jose, CA
June 17, 2008
Commentators: Tazz & Mike Adamle
Reported by: David Stephens of WrestleView.com

It is Tuesday night which can only mean one thing: “stop questioning my heart” because it is time to trust “the fire that burns inside”! Yes, I have memorized the lyrics, because the song is that awesome.

Apologies for missing last week’s coverage. I’m about to wipe the separation anxiety from your minds because it is time for the most exciting hour of WWE programming on Tuesday Nights.

Tonight we will have a confrontation between Kane and the Big Show as well as a match between CM Punk and John Morrison.

The sounds of Ireland fill the arena which can only mean the presence of one 4’4” wrestler: Hornswoggle!

Video recap is shown of Estrada being pinned three times by Finlay, Colin Delaney, and Hornswoggle respectively last week.

Hornswoggle v. Armando Estrada

Hornswoggle mocks Estrada by taking out a cigar and breaking it in half. Hornswoggle runs out of the ring and runs along the outside and then grabs a bucket from under the ring and unloads beads all over the floor which Estrada slips on. Once Hornswoggle gets back in the ring he hits Estrada with a fake shelele then squirts him with a little water gun. Swoggle then jumps out of the ring and goes under the ring, Estrada tries to grab him but instead Hornswoggle emerges from the other end of the ring and Estrada realizes that the man he pulls out from under the ring is Finlay! Finlay squirts Estrada with a large water gun, then throws him into the ring. Hornswoggle climbs to the top then hits the tadpole splash for the pin.

Winner via Tadpole Splash: Hornswoggle

After the match Tazz walks to the side of the ring and does an impromptu interview with Finlay asking him what it is like under the ring.

Finlay: There’s leprechauns, little people, hobbits, fat people, skinny people, there’s even people your size under there.

Tazz: Well one day I gotta hang out with you under there, sounds pretty good. Well it’s better than where I am now.

I’m sure that this is not exactly what Tod Gordon had in mind all those years ago when he was working on ECW. But I mean come on, this stuff is brilliant.

****Commercial****

We came back for a plug of the new issue of WWE magazine as well as a look back at the WWE.com exclusive dance that Layla did for the audience during the commercial.

Matt Striker v. Evan Bourne

Video recap is shown of Evan getting the pin over Mike Knox in his tag team match up with Kofi against Shelton and Knox.

Matt Striker tries to put a headlock on Bourne and Bourne flips out of it. Evan hits a quick headscissors on the former Social Studies Teacher. Evan finds himself the victim of a spinning neckbreaker while his legs are on the top ropes and his head is plowed to the mat. Advantage Striker. Striker goes for the pin and barely gets a two count. Matt Striker hits a “that was nice” and goes for a pin but only gets a two. (In keeping with my boycott of Tazz and Adamle’s refusal to call moves by their names I put in what surely must be the name of the move, because that is what Tazz called it) Striker puts Bourne into a headlock. Evan jumps over Striker’s back to escape and then hits a high knee. Evan bounces off the ropes and hits a viscous Hurricarana. Advantage Bourne. Striker’s back is on the mat, so Evan jumps for a beautiful standing moonsault but Striker kicks him in the groin for the block. Wow.

Evan is in the corner and Striker runs over but Bourne kicks him which gives him the momentum to flip over onto the top rope. Matt is on his back and Evan stands up on the top rope and jumps for a Shooting Star Press!! Evan Bourne gets the pin. Game, Set and Match!

Winner via Shooting Star Press: Evan Bourne

This match was absolutely beautiful to watch. I have a lot of thoughts about this that I am going to put in the ECW Thoughts. I have never felt so excited and angry at one thing as I do right now.

After the match Mike Knox runs into the ring and nails Evan Bourne with his finisher.

****Commercial****

At this point my computer crashed and I completely miss the next 20 minutes of ECW. I am going to do my best to fill you in with what happened thanks to reports given by WWE.com. For those wondering why my computer matters, I watch ECW through a TV tuner that allows me to record and rewind etc. Complaints can be sent directly to Hewlett-Packard.

Credit WWE.com:
“Knox’s assault on Bourne fired him up for his upcoming bout with Kingston, but their match was interrupted by the Superstar who ended Kingston’s winning streak – Shelton Benjamin. ECW’s Gold Standard attacked the Jamaican Superstar mid-match, leading to Kingston’s win by disqualification. But during their scuffle, Benjamin accidentally kicked Knox, allowing Kingston to escape the ring.”

When my service returns I find myself smack dab in the middle of the John Morrison & CM Punk Match.

John Morrison v. CM Punk

Picking up from where my TV service returned: John Morrison’s head is placed in between Punk’s legs, but Morrison hits a fireman’s carry to get out of the move. Morrison bounces off the rope and hits a knee to Punks face. Morrison attempts a cover, but Punk kicks out. Morrison hits Punk with a nice backbreaker. Morrison attempts a vertical suplex but Punk manages to get out of it and whips Morrison into the corner. Morrison skates out on to the apron in order to dodge the move but when he attempts to jump back into the ring, Punk catches Morrison on his shoulders and hits the G.T.S.

Winner via GTS: Punk

After the match Miz comes out and announces Morrison as STILL one half of the WWE Tag Champions and puts over their match against Finlay and Hornswoggle at Night of Champions.

Up Next: Confrontation between Kane and the Big Show

****Commercial****

Remember to go to WWE.com to register for this week’s Million Dollar Mania.

In the ring Teddy Long is putting over the Big Show v. Kane match at night of Champions.

The Big Show makes his way to the ring, and he really is not looking too pleased. The Big Red Machine on the other hand, is looking a bit smirky on his way to the ring. Actually, he doesn’t look to pleased either. Teddy lets us know that we are now witnessing a “forum” for the two opponents to discuss whatever they would like.

Big Show talks about how they have been opponents in the past and that Kane has the ECW Championship which he is going to take back at Night of Champions. Kane puts over the Big Show’s dominance but lets him know that the Big Show will not be winning the ECW Championship. Kane let’s Show know that Show has no idea what Kane is willing to do to keep his ECW Championship. Big Show puts over Kane as a sadistic freak but lets him know that he went through hell to get the title shot. Kane lets him know that hell is standing right here in front of him. The two are almost standing nose to nose and Teddy Long is getting nervous.

Mark Henry’s music hits! Henry apparently knows how to talk and lets the two in the ring know that they are going to need to save their strength because if he isn’t drafted Monday Night, he is going after the ECW Title. Kane and the Big Show proceed to grab Mark Henry’s neck and hit a double chokeslam as ECW goes off the air!

ECW Thoughts

First of all, I am disappointed that I missed the Kofi Kingston v. Mike Knox match. Kofi is a joy to watch and I look forward to his matches every week. Again apologies about that, but let’s move on to what is really on my mind.

****Rant****

EVAN BOURNE
Matt Sydal is a brilliant performer. I have just been getting more and more impressed with him as time goes on. I have gone back and dug up a lot of his old matches and watched them. In particular I’ve watched his Wrestling Society X segments in order to see him in a recent TV environment. Up until this match right here I had been questioning why this wrestler seems to be constantly getting solid pushes from the companies he works in. I was amazed that I kept finding backstage segments to go along with his matches, but now I have fully appreciated why. Evan Bourne in one match just wrestled an Indy match successfully on WWE programming and made it work.

For those that know me and my taste in wrestling, it is no secret that by and far Paul London is my favorite wrestler. At least, up until an hour ago. Paul London now has a legitimate challenger in my mind. This is important for me to be saying on a national article like this because if not no one would believe me. Keep in mind that London has been my wrestling idol for several years now. I pride myself on having seen everything I can find that involves him. Just this past week I watched his final ROH match against Samoa Joe again, just so I could get carried away in the emotion of the entire ROH locker room (which included Joe and AJ Styles just to name a couple) on their knees in the ring in order to let Paul get a standing ovation and a chance to thank everyone on the mic. It takes an incredible wrestler and person to get that kind of respect from an entire company.

I tell you all this not to take away from anyone, but just to showcase how serious my feelings on this matter are tonight. Evan Bourne just pulled off in the ring, the match that I have been waiting for London to do since he arrived in this company and had his debut match against Brock Lesnar. I know that I am going to receive a lot of opinions about this, and I welcome them because I really want to know if I am alone in this next train of thought, but this is where I find myself angered.

The reason I have never seen Paul London have this kind of match in the WWE is because he is not allowed. I’ve read the article where he and Kendrick talk about adapting their style to the WWE in order to fit in with the WWE way of wrestling. It was enlightening for me because they talked about how they came to understand that it was necessary in order to ensure that they could still be wrestling down the road. This all being kept in mind, it was not the style of the match that threw me off, it was the usage of one move: the Shooting Star Press.

The Shooting Star Press is almost the Holy Grail of wrestling moves in my mind. I have no time for bad looking ones like those of Billy Kidman, and instead marvel at the way Paul London is able to pull it off. AJ Styles and Teddy Hart also have nice ones along with other wrestlers, but there was always something that made London’s special. There was always something intense about the way he leaped and flipped midair. Fast forward to Paul London holding the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. This is of course just a “rumor”, but at the time thanks to Juventud Guerrero the more “high risk” moves were banned. In particular London’s 450 Splash and the Shooting Star Press. London reportedly complained about this to Mr. McMahon claiming that the Cruiserweights needed these moves in order to keep the style that made them stand out. The decision was not overturned and shortly thereafter, London lost the title.

This is where my anger is stemming from. Why was Evan Bourne allowed to use this move tonight? I’m not going to lie, the way he looked was breathtaking, even my worship of London couldn’t keep myself from gasping and the marvel I was witnessing. I am just really questioning why he is allowed to use this move if Paul London is not. I have no answers, only questions. If anybody reading this has any information please send it my way. I really want to know what other people are thinking about this because quite frankly, it just doesn’t seem fair.

****End Rant****

ECW in general was a really solid show this week. I in particular really enjoyed the Hornswoggle segment. I might get hate mail for putting it over so much, but I just thought the entire thing was hilarious and I would not at all mind seeing it continue week to week.

What I saw of Punk’s match was solid, but I really don’t feel qualified to go in depth about any other thoughts on it since I didn’t see the build up to the finish.

The Kane and Big Show segment did what it needed to do in order to build up to their match at Night of Champions. Truthfully, while the Mark Henry entrance was cool from a mark out moment of him getting chokeslammed it really didn’t fit in that well with everything /*. I just think that things are already kind of awkward being built to a PPV considering that the draft is approaching next week, so trying to start a new program just seems a bit silly.

Quick Thoughts to Marinade On:
-Finlay and Hornswoggle apparently live under the ring, which actually explains a lot
-Adamle was surprisingly on the ball tonight
-Evan Bourne’s moves are beautiful to watch
-I have no clue how the draft/moving ECW to RAW is going to affect the show

Full details to come next week on this recap becoming interactive. Basically I am going to be holding polls in order to gage the reader’s opinions on best ECW wrestlers, matches, etc in order to create the ECW Power Rankings. Any suggestions are welcome. I’m doing it this way because unlike Hunter Golden on the RAW recaps, I know that my readers have some good input as well. I kid Hunter, I just am putting this system in place so that you get an idea of what everyone is thinking in addition to my own thoughts.

I know I threw a lot of things out there tonight, so please let me know what you are thinking. As always I can be reached at jugglernextdoor@gmail.com

-David Stephens